Pile fabric cutter



1967 G. POLETAJEV 3,337,955

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United States Patent 3,337,955 PILE FABRIC CUTTER Gury Poletajev, Lafayette Hills, Pa., assignor to Burlington Industries, Inc. Filed Dec. 1966, Ser. No. 599,150 4 Claims. (Cl. 30-294) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present apparatus comprises a truncated triangular base having a cutting element mounted thereon and extending through the base together with a plough for separating pile projections in front of the knife. The triangular configuration of the base plate is provided with a movable biasing dimple so that a bevelling effect can be achieved on the cushion material of the fabric.

Background Hand carpet cutters have been used for cutting pile rugs and carpets for some time. Prior devices, however, are not satisfactory for an uncut pile fabric having a previously applied rubber cushion or backing. It is desirable in trimming this type of fabric that the cutting blade be guided between adjacent rows of pile projections in such a way that few if any ofthe pile loops are severed by the blade. In addition, the blade must have suflicient penetrating ability to cut the primary backing or woven ground in which the pile projections are customarily secured. This applies to tufted, Wilton, Nelvet, or Axminster construction. In addition, the prior devices have been incapable of performing the operation of scribe cutting. This term refers to the use of a template and comprises placing one piece of fabric above the other so that it acts as a guide or edge against which the bottom fabric is cut. The plough on the present cutter is extremely useful for performing scribe cutting since it follows along the edge of the upper piece of fabric and the adjustable feature of the blade permits the other piece of fabric to be cut in precisely the same configuration as the upper piece. It is also to be noted that the improved features of the present cutter make it desirable for use in opening up defective seams between two pieces of fabric which have previously been joined by a seaming operation.

Description Referring now more particularly to the drawings FIGURE 1 is a perspective showing the operation of my improved cutter on a cushion back loop pile fabric,

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged longitudinal section as seen at 22 of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 3 is a top View of the cutter of FIGURES l and 2,

FIGURE 4 is a section as seen at 44 of FIGURE 2,

FIGURE 5 is a sectional detail as seen at 5-5 of FIG- URE 2,

FIGURE 6 is a bottom view on a reduced scale of the structure of FIGURE 3,

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged sectional detail as seen at 7-7 of FIGURE 3,

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view showing the position and operation of the bevelling dimple, and

FIGURE 9 shows how the cutter of the present inventionis utilized in a scribing operation.

Referring to FIGURESl to 3, the improved carpet cutter described herein consists of a fiat base plate or member having rolled edges 16, 17, and 18 around three sldes thereof. The shape of member 15 is generally triangular but at the forward edge it is truncated as shown clearly in FIGURES 3 and 6. The longitudinal center of Patented Aug. 29, 1967 22 (FIGS. 1 and 2). The keel 20 extends substantially the length of the base and is provided with a slot 23 (FIG. 6) through which an adjustable knife or cutting blade 24 can be extended to any desired depth by sliding the blade 24 in a rearwardly biased blade holder 25. The blade is then securely clamped in any adjusted position by means of a thumbscrew 26. A handle 27 which may be arcuate as shown in FIGURE 2 or of any other suitable configuration, is attached to the forward and terminal portions of the base 15 by means of spot weld 28, 28 as shown in FIGURE 3.

Under some conditions it is desirable to skive the edge of the carpet being cut so that the rubber cushion 30 is not always trimmed perpendicularly in the manner shown in FIGURE 4. This bevelling can be provided by means of an adjustable dimple 31 which is slidably and detachably secured to either of the rolled edges 17 or 18. The dimple per se is actually a pressed convex area in the slider 32 to provide sufficient elevation for one edge of the base 15 to give the desired skivin-g. When it is desired to skive the fabric edge,.the dimple slider 32, is pivoted to a position underneath base 15 as shown in FIGURE 7. Limited adjustment of the skive angle can be achieved by sliding the dimple element forwardly or backwardly on the rolled edge 17 or 18 as the case may be. This, of course, has the effect of moving the dimple nearer or closer to the center line of the cutter and therefore the cutting edge. Naturally, the closer the dimple is positioned to the cutting edge the greater will be the bevel angle a as seen in FIGURE 8. When not in use the dimple member can be pivoted to the inoperative position shown in FIGURES 4 and 7 or it may be completely removed by sliding it off the forward end of the base 15.

In operation, the blade 24 is set to the desired depth so that the backing of the fabric F is either completely or partially severed. The backing is shown as a rubber cushion or underlay 30 to which the pile loop projections 36 are secured, usually through the medium of a woven backing. The blade 24 is guided between longitudinal rows of pile projections so that few if any are severed. The primary backing and substantially all of the cushion backing 30 are cut so that a clean edge of the fabric as shown in FIGURE 1 is provided.

In many installations of wall to wall carpeting it becomes quite important to be able to cut more than one piece of fabric in exactly the same shape or possibly allochirally to fit around various parts of the inside structure such as columns, staircases, wall projections, etc. The carpet layer will make a first cutting to exactly the correct shape which may in some instances involve a certain trial and error cutting. In order to avoid a repetition of the trial and error cutting it is now feasible for the first time to use the first piece of fabric as a template so that the identical edge as shown in FIGURE 1 or the allochiral edge can be quickly cut. By reversing the top or template fabric 37 in FIGURE 9, the allochiral piece is produced. For this type of scribe cutting the blade 24 is extended so that it will cut through the lower fabric 38.

While the present cutter is designed primarily for use with loop pile fabric such as carpets and rugs which have an integrally attached cushion or pad of substantial thickness with respect to the fabric, it will be understood that the improved cutter can be used equally well on fabrics that are formed completely with uncut pile or which have sculptured pile or some pile which is partially cut and partially loop. The cutter is very effective, inexpensive to manufacture and fills a distinct need in the technique of installing wall to wall carpeting.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A cutting tool for pile fabric and the like comprising a flat base member having a flat horizontal area for riding on the top of the pile surface of the fabric, a handle extending above and secured to said base member, an adjustable cutting blade extending below and mounted centrally in the base member, a keel on the bottom of the base member extending centrally from front to back in alignment with the blade, and an elevated nose at the front of the keel.

2. A cutting tool in accordance with claim 1 in which the base member has a front edge, a rear edge longer than the front edge and parallel thereto, and two non-parallel side edges forming a generally truncated triangular configuration.

3. A cutting tool in accordance with claim 1 in which the base member has a front edge, a rear edge longer than the front edge and parallel thereto, two non-parallel side edges forming a generally truncated triangular configura- 4 tion and means slidable along one of said side edges for elevating one edge of the base member.

4. A cutting tool in accordance with claim 1 in which the nose at the forward end of the keel extends upwardly above the top of the base member to provide a visible guide for pushing the cutting between two adjacent pile rows.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,238,678 4/ 1941 Cook 30294 2,567,102 9/1951 Cook 30-294 2,607,115 8/1952 Lovinelli 30293 2,772,474 12/ 1956 Hill et al 30283 FOREIGN PATENTS 107,889 l/l900 Germany. 853,452 11/ 1960 Great Britain.

0 JAMES L. JONES, JR., Primary Examiner. 

1. A CUTTING TOOL FOR PILE FABRIC AND THE LIKE COMPRISING A FLAT BASE MEMBER HAVING A FLAT HORIZONTAL AREA FOR RIDING ON THE TOP OF THE PILE SURFACE OF THE FABRIC, A HANDLE EXTENDING ABOVE AND SECURED TO SAID BASE MEMBER, AN ADJUSTABLE CUTTING BLADE EXTENDING BELOW AND MOUNTED CENTRALLY IN THE BASE MEMBER, A KEEL ON THE BOTTOM OF THE BASE MEMBER EXTENDING CENTRALLY FROM FRONT TO BACK IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE BLADE, AND AN ELEVATED NOSE AT THE FRONT OF THE KEEL. 